A Community of Writers
By Jean Frantz
Originally
I thought that I would come to class for four weeks, hear and read about
writing, share ideas, argue points, do some writing, use the computer in some
way or another, receive my nine credits and go home. What has happened in this class was all of
those things, but something surprised me. A community has happened!
In
this paper I will look back at our class structure, activities, leadership and
intent to try to ascertain how this community was built and why. Finally I will
write about how the same community building can happen among children through
writing, and how that can be mutually nurturing-the writing will nurture
community and community will nurture writing.
First
let me define community as I think of it. I believe that community is a group of people that knows one another,
cares about one another, and wishes the best for them. It is a group of people that begins to know
some of each other’s respective past history and becomes aware of that person’s
history in the making.
The
structure of our group consisted of twenty women ranging in age from
twenty-four to fifty-eight, all teachers at different grade levels, and all
presently living and teaching in Oregon. The class was organized and taught by Dr.
Nathaniel Teich and Karen Atikajian, both teachers and writers in their own
right. We have been present with one
another for four weeks, mornings and afternoons, sometimes sharing our lunch
hours as well. Although much of our time
was spent as a whole group, we also broke into assigned small “response” groups
no larger than four, to share and edit our writing.
The
activities of this illustrious group of twenty women were to write a personal
essay each week, read and review four books and a web-site about writing and
how to teach it, and finally, to share with the class at least one activity
which we use in our classrooms which teaches an aspect of writing.
The intent of this class, I assume, was to
familiarize teachers with writing, the very task they are trying to impart to
students. It was to go through the
process of editing with a peer group. To
study the teaching of writing from the experts’ point of view was a goal, and
perhaps indirectly, to network with each other for present and future reference
was another goal.
The
structure, the activities and the intent of this class have all built
community, none of them mutually exclusive. Logistics were an important factor, too-we sat in a rectangle facing one
another. Our leaders guided our
discussion, but at no time did we feel that we could not share ideas. In fact, ideas were welcomed. The response groups, the ideal size of four,
were essential to examining our writing and our feelings about our subject
matter.
The
most important activity of this class, I believe, was the personal writing that
was required of us, both the essays that were assigned, and the stories and
poems, which we were asked to write by the students and guides as they
demonstrated their lessons to the class. Inherent in this activity of personal writing and the reading of it to
each other was the kernel of community building. Miraculously over a very short period of time
trust was built, the ingredient one needs to be able to uncover ones beliefs
and stories through writing. As we
trusted and shared over time, we were beginning to care about one another and
learn each other’s histories.
Now
that this class is drawing to a close, I have learned the power of writing and
sharing stories and ideas. It has been a
privilege to have spent the better part of each day with people whom I now call
friends. If we were to continue to meet,
our writing and our sharing of it would deepen the community that we already
have.
I
believe that writing can have the same result within our classrooms-to build
community. This can happen especially
when we encourage our students to write their own stories, to look for the
nuggets of their passions, concerns and celebrations and to find words to
express them. To create a safe place to
do student writing, teachers will need to provide an atmosphere for that to
happen. Teachers can model trust by sharing their own writing with the
students and letting them see the laughter and tears that their stories stir up
in them. They will build confidence by
showing students how to respond to peer’s writing by giving positive and
constructive feed-back rather than put-downs. When teachers react to student writing with enthusiasm and interest, and
when they show the students how important it is, the students will react in
turn by taking their writing seriously. As teachers model their own writing, as they write their stories and
share them with the students, as they show their care and concern for their
students, the students will “catch on” and want to do the same. The classroom will become a community of
writers.
